U.N. moves to plan B to find temp space

Search narrows to few sites; intense Brooklyn lobbying

The United Nations is ramping up its hunt for 1 million square feet of temporary office space to house its employees while its headquarters on First Avenue undergoes a $1.2 billion renovation. The international organization has narrowed its search to fewer than six properties in Brooklyn and Manhattan, according to Undersecretary General Christopher Burnham.

"There is a looming deadline, and I will be moved out of this space two years from today," Mr. Burnham says.

The U.N.'s real estate concerns have become pressing since its plan to build a 35-story tower at Robert Moses Playground just south of its Turtle Bay headquarters was quashed by lawmakers in Albany last month. The U.N. had tried to get the state Senate to pass legislation that would have begun the process of securing the playground for development, but failed to get the bill enacted. Residents and some politicians had been vocal opponents of the plan, which called for a waterfront promenade along the East River to replace the playground.

With the death knell sounded on its original plan, the U.N. is now pursuing with vigor its Plan B. Mr. Burnham says a "drop-dead deadline" for signing a lease for the swing space, as the temporary space is known, would be in the fourth quarter of 2006. The criteria he is considering are "efficiency, security and price."

Mr. Burnham, who has been in office less than two months, already has a short list of candidates for the position of assistant undersecretary general to oversee the process.

While several sites in Manhattan have been under consideration, including 485 Lexington Ave., 7 World Trade Center and 4 New York Plaza, Brooklyn has stepped up its efforts to woo the world body. Last week, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and a task force he has formed with local business and civic leaders met with Mr. Burnham to plead its case.

"We did not bring any developers with us, and we did not speak about any specific sites in Brooklyn," Mr. Markowitz says, adding that the point of the meeting was to tell the U.N. that Brooklyn would give it "a red-carpet welcome," no matter which developer or project it chooses.

One Brooklyn leader who attended the meeting said that the U.N. was considering converting some of the swing space into permanent offices.

"It became clear from the conversation that the U.N. is considering downtown Brooklyn not only as a temporary home, but possibly as a permanent commitment for some support functions," says Ken Adams, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

Brooklyn is cheaper, with rents of about $35 a square foot versus $75 a square foot in midtown, and decentralizing the U.N. is logical from a security standpoint, he adds.

While Mr. Burnham would not discuss specific sites, an office tower to be built over a multilevel parking garage adjacent to the Gallery at Fulton Street, at 1 DeKalb Ave, is widely considered a likely site.

Timing is everything

Thor Equities is developing the 1.3 million-square-foot tower, which could be completed "90 days before the U.N. needs to move in, or in about 19 months," says Joseph Sitt, chief executive of Thor.

The company threw out its original design for the tower and is developing a new plan tailored to the U.N. The new plan has no residential component; the retail space is inside and accessible only by passing through security.

MetroTech 12 and 15 are another Brooklyn possibility. Brokers say the 350,000-square-foot towers are strong contenders, because they are already constructed and offer good protection against terrorism. They are not accessible to cars.

There are other possible sites in downtown Brooklyn, including office space to be constructed by Forest City Ratner Cos. and Muss Development Co.

Brooklyn possibilities

"We have some new developments in downtown but we are not ready to market them, so it would be hard to tell the U.N. about them yet," says Josh Muss, president of Muss Development. He calls the Thor Equities tower "doable." Forest City Ratner declined to comment.

If there had been more time, other sites may have come into play, Mr. Burnham says.

"Governors Island would have been ideal, but it is too difficult at this late date to consider it," he says.

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